Signature hopper mechanism



1950 P. E. KLEINEBERG SIGNATURE HOPPER MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJuly 51, 1946 INVENTOR P. E. KLEINEBERG SIGNATURE HOPPER MECHANISM Dec.5, 1950 '3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 51, 1946 INVVENTORY;

Dec. 5, 1950 P. E. KLEl NEBERG SIGNATURE HOPPER MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet3 Filed July 31, 1946 1? K INV ENTOR Patented Dec. 5, 1950 SIGNATURE'HOPPER MECHANISM Paul E. Kleineberg, Easton,lPa., assignor to ".l. .&.C. B. Sheridan Company, New York, N. Y..

a corporation of New York Application July 31, 1946,.Serial'Nov687A98 13Claims.

:resting upon asupport or hopper bottom which includes'a frontwardlytraveling web upon which the signatures standedgewise, and also includesside walls or stack guides between which thestack .may beloaded orresuppliedfrom the rear, to be advanced progressively frontwardly, and afront ,abutmentagainst which .the stack .may bear in suitable positionfor the successive extractions therefrom of front signatures withsubstantially .vertical or upright extracting motion, upwardly ordownwardly.

,Atypicalinstance ofthe practical utility of a signature stackholderorhopper of the kindre- .ferredtois in signature gathering machines; andanillustration ofsuch a machine embodying .a,hoppermechanism.of.the.kind referred to is that shown in the priorpatent of Kleineberg, .Schweizer and Wilks No. 2,163,732, issued June.297, .1939, reissued June, 25, 1940, No. 21,489. The hopper and stackfeeding means of the present invention maybe employed in varioussignature handling machines including different types ,of

gathering machine, such as the insert gatherer {for producing saddlestitched pamphlets, illustrated in said prior patent, or the fiatgathering machine for producing side=stitched pamphlets; wherein ineither case the signaturesare stacked eclgcwise .or "substantiallyupright in the hopper in..a manner adapting. each frontmost signature to.he gripped .by its upper or lower edge, extraotedfrom the hopper bysuitableextracting means as arotarydrum, carried away from theextracting position and transferred to a suitable receiving point suchas the conventional traveling conveyor of an insertgathering or a flatgathering machine. Said priorpatent illustrates upward extraction,preceded by aslight downward retraction of eachsignature while hereinisillustrated the well known plan of direct loweredge ripping. anddownwardextraction of each signature, either plan being usable with thehopper mechanism of the present invention; while the hopper bottom orstack supporting'web is preferably, as shown in the prior patent andherein;

slightly inclined downwardly'toward the front, so that gravity aids inkeeping the loaded supplies in place, the signatures leaning lightlfrontward.

The general object of'the present invention is to aiford-asi'gnature'hoppenmechanism of improved operation, efficiency and durability,especiallywith respectto the bodil-y feeding of the V12 stack .of,edgewise signatures by the frontward travel of.a.supporting.bottom orweb. A further object is to afford improved reliability of action andability ,to operate .at the increasing speeds prevailing in the.gathering of signatures .and production of .pamphlets therefrom. .Aparticular .object is to affordanfine control of the stack feedingactionin a manner-tokeep pace correctly with the rate of gradual depletionofthe stackat its front end ,while resupplies are added at the .rear endof the stack or.hopper. Another Wobiect is to afford a practical meansfor fine adjustment 'inaccordance with varyingthicknesses of Si na-*ture. Other and further objects and advantages of the'invention will beexplained in or appear from the hereinbelow description of one or moreillustrative embodiments of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a general left elevational View of sufficientvportions of asignature feeding and gathering machine to illustrate the novel elementsand combination constituting or embodyingthe present invention; certainlongitudinal parts and shafts beingshown in transverse vertical section,

and certain detacher parts shown in dottedlines in a different position;the front of, the machine "being considered to be at the righthandsideof Fig.1.

Fig. '2 is a left elevation similar to Fig. '1 but showing a second forminvolving a modified construction of certain of the elements of their!-'vention.

Fig. 3 is a detached left elevation of certain of the operative elementsshown in Figs. 1 and;2 but with the parts in a different position orstage of-action; and'Fig. 4 is a view similar toFig.f3 --butwith theparts in a still different position.

Fig. 5 in a left elevation is a detached view of certain elements of thefirst form shown in Fig. 1; while "Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5butshowing the same parts in a different position, .and Fig. GA-is a frontview of part of Fig. 6.

Fig. 7 is a left elevation of a portion of the mechanism of the secondform as shown in'the Fig. 2 modification, with the parts in a differentstage or position; while Fig. 8 shows certain of the parts of Fig."'Zbut in a still different position.

Referring firstto certain parts of the gatheringmachine, which may be ofdesign and operation-generally-as in said prior patent,'the lower frameof the machine-is omitted,'but the upper frame l't'isseen, and thisprovides bearings'for the :main shaft, not shown, and various othershafts, as well as longitudinal frame parts and rods:extendingibetweenthe several upper frame 3 transverse walls l3. Such terms as front andback, right and left, are employed in a relative sense, and, notintended as limitations upon the invention. At the upper rear of theframe transverse walls it are provided extending brackets M to givesupport, in each secti n of the gathering machine, to a signaturerloading shelf [5. At the upper front are a number of'high front bracketsI 8 giving support to various elements in each sec ion. The ma n shaftmay be arranged below the extracting drum 75 as in said prior patent,not being herein. i lustrated, but being the source from which motion isderived by various countershafts and other elements. Other known generalparts, such as the extracting means will be described hereinafter.

Referring next to the hopper mechanism, located ener ly between theloading s elf at the rear and the extract ng drum at the front, the hoper in each section of the gatherer is provided with a bottom or plate30, preferably consistin of two opposite such p ates, upon which theedeewise stacked signaturer lower corners may rest. At each side, rightand left, of each hop er mechanism is arrang d cert in stack confiningshown as including a low wall or s de plate 3! at each s de andthereabove an p osite pair of side gu des or walls 32. The bottom platesor ledg s 30 of the hopper may be formed as fiancee at t e lo er edgesof the low side walls 3!. The high walls or guides 32, and preferablyalso the low walls 3|, are arranged sli htly closer together than thelength of the signatures, this b ing for the pur ose of c mpolling theloaded batches of signatures to take a bo ed or arched form, with theconcave side thereof toward th re r, in the manner more fullv shown andexplained in said prior patent. This bow ng has the effect of stiffeningthe infed signatures against collap e or slumping in the hopper, whileallowin the desired progressive frontward bodi y travel or feed o thestack. As in said prior patent the rearwardly concave bowing of thesignatures may be confined es ecially to the lower portion thereof, thisbeing sufficient, and perm tting the upper p r ions of the signatures tostand flatly again t the front abutment to be described. As anotherpreference, the hop er side wa ls are shown terminated somewhat short ofthe front of the hopper, also as illustrated in said rior patent. thishaving the advantageous effect of releasing a relatively small gro p offr nt s natur s. which therebv flatten out ag inst the front abutment.bringing the whole width of such roup of signatures frontwa rdlv inoptimum osition for the detaching and extrac ing operations to bedescribed.

The upper and. lo er side walls 32 and 3| at each s de of each ho perare sup orted uoon upstanding brack ts wh ch may be adiu table widthwisefor differ nt lengths of signature. These brackets, constitutingcarriages for the s de walls. are shown su orted upon a long tudinal rod34, that is, transverse to the frontward direction of stack feed, nearthe r ar of the hopper, and may have an extension 3 A engaging also asimi ar front rod. 35. The ad ustment of the carria es 33 for signaturelengths may be effected bv prov ding the rods 34 as threaded shafts,with o posite threads for the respective two carriages in each honner sothat by adin 1;

ment they may be set closer t gether or further. apart, as in said pr oratent further de cr bed.

At the front of each hopper is an abutment 38,

constituting a stop plate, preferably of the full Width of the hopper,and being inclined slightly frontwardly to correspond with the downwardincline of the hopper, so that contained signatures may rest firmly andsecurely against the abutment plate, and gravity thereby aiding in thefrontward feed of the stacked signatures, The abutment 38 is shownmounted upon a cross bar 39 which takes its support from the upper frontframe brackets l8, and may run the full length of the gatherer.

For the progressive frontward feed of the stacked signatures in eachhopper there is shown' a traveling su port or bottom web 45, in thenature of a feed belt; this being located centrally between the oppositebo tom plates 30 and approximately at the level thererof, said webtaking the maior part of the weight of the supported signature stack.Preferably the traveling bottom web 45 is an end ess belt, wi h upperand lower stretches; and its upper stretch may travel sliding'ly alongan underneath rigid support, shown as afforded by the upper side of acarriage 41. Said carriage may be positioned by and supported upon therods or adjusting shafts 34 and 35, and it may be bodily removabletherefrom for purposes of access, interchange or repair. The endlesstraveling web 45 may pass around pulleys 49 at the front and 50 at therear of the carriage 41.

The progressive frontward travel of the supporting web 45 of each hoppermay be effected by the methodical rotation of the front supportingpulley .9, the shaft 54 of which pulley takes it bearings in the b ttomsupporting carriage 41. The travel being natural y very slow andgradual, special means is necessary to effect the regulated rot tion oft e dri ing pulley 49 of the endless feeding belt 45. The rate of feedmust be varied in accordance wi h the thickness of the individualsignatures to be fed, and it has been found that intermittent rotationand travel are highly advantageous for the purpose, such action beingthat described in said prior patent. To carry out this p an there isshown mounted to turn with the drive pulley 49 a ratchet wheel 55.preferably secured near one end of the pulley shaft 54 and formed. withfine teeth coo' erable with pawl means to del ver clock ise rotation tothe pulley, and forward travel of the web, as viewed in Fi s. 1 and 2.

To this point the described elements corresnond clo el with t osebearing the same reference numbers in said prior atent: but from this pont of descri ion onward the ele ents, combinations and o era ions differmaterially, calling for th use of independent reference numbers on theparts.

The si natures will first he referred to. stack S contains the manyedgewise-star ding individua signatures s, and these may be either of te lap t pe, each havin an extension of p rt of ts openable ed e toassist opening for saddle gatherin or of the re ular type as preferredfor fiat athering, as explained in the prior patent. Herein thesignatures are shown stacked for downward extraction, each signaturehaving its closed back edge s, whereat the final fold is formed, at thebottom, and its openable edge s at the top; and an extracted signatureis seen traveling with its closed ed e s leading upon the periphery ofthe extracting drum.

The successive feeding of frontmost signatures from the stack involves,in the form herein The Y ments of the detacher.

shown, ass in said prior-patent, the :operation ro'f detaching an edgeof the signature from themermainder of the :stack, by swinging #saidedge 'frontwardly from the stack, followed by. ripping of the detachededge and gpulling the signature bodily from the stack and hopper, bytheme of an extractor means or drum .which'carries grippers and trotatesin the desired direction, in this case counterclockwise for downwardextraction and :frontward transfer, on the drum periphery,

towards .a point of gathering or other disposition. Thus inabothlformsfof the invention, :seen

in Figs. .1 and 2 and others, there is .shownza .detaching:means 6010fthe advantageous; suction type, the body of which constitutes .-;acarriage, or .oppositepair -10f carriages, shiftable tor swing- -.able.rearwardly toward the .:lower edge :of the signature stack and.frontwardly therefrom to deflect and .swing loutwardly the: signaturelower Theactual engagement with the signaportion of :the swinging:system is .a trans erse .member or .hollow suction bar 64, extendingsubstantially the .jtull width .of the section and giving direct supportto e-rid pneumatic .connection with, the two or lmo're suckers or ,cups.6 I

The operations .of each suction .detaeher r60 1 in each section of thegatherer.and .in each extract ng cycle are substantially conventional,the suckers being shifted .or swung .rearwardly .at the proper moment.in each cy'cleso as :to come in contact with the .front.signature, thsuction effect .being then applied .through'athesucker bar 64 andsuction cups .by passages, controlling valves etc., .not shown, thedetaching system being thereu on swung .frontwardly .to detach anddeflect.outwardly-thelower edgeof .thefrontmost si nature, 'for.gripping and extraotiornand the release .of the suctionconditionoccurring. at the same time that the extracting .grippereengages thesignature edge. The mechanical actuationof the si nature detachermay'beithrough any suitable connection thereto .from an appropriate camor timing. device providing one. o eration per cycle. "For illustrationthere .is .shown an actuating link 65 extending Item the detacher pivot,63 upwardly to apivot at the free end of a rearwardlv extending.rockarm .65 mounted on a rocksha'ft or axle J6! sup orted .by the'frame bra'cket l8. By the actuationo'f the rockshaft or rockarmtherequired swinging movements of -the detaching suckers are .produced.Fig. "1 shows in dotted linesthe .frontswung pos tion of 'theseparts. V

The suction detachingmeans thus described upon 'Fig. '1 is in generalduplicated in Fig. "2, with modifications; and .one such modification isthe providing, instead of the simple actuatinglink 65 of Fig. 11 acushioned or yieldin link 65A seenin Fig.2 .andinFig. 7. Thisyieldingelement couldbe provided ataanypoint in the train of connections forworking the suction cups solong as a limit'to .the yieldingmotionis 1provided, l but preferably the ,yielding means .is embodied .in the link65A of lthe secondlform of the invention, the purpose -and-.operation ofwhich .will ,be hereinafter fully described. As

il o as composed of a :pair of telescoping members under spring control,for example, .a rod 68 pivoted to *therdetacher at .63 and a sleeve 69:pivoted to the rockarm 66,the rodbeing slidable telescopically withinthesleeve. The depending sleeve is :of short length, and thereisarranged a'compression spring 10 between the bottom end tot the sleeve,:and a collar ll near the low end of the, rodpsothatthenormal effect ofthe spring is .to-lengthenor expand the yieldable link, this actionhowever being limited by an expansion stop zmeansshown as a pair ofopposite slots 12 formed .in the walls of the sleeve :member 69 andengaged by :ajpair of opposite stop pins (3 projectingoutwardly from therod member of the ,link. '.The normal length 0f the link :is itsfullllength when the yieldingspring 10 has forced the pins13113011'110Vfi to the bottom-of the slots .12; while the potentialyield is such-asto permit :a slight shortening of the link lengththereby to permit an-abnormalfrontward relativexmotion or-swing of thesuction 'detacher 60.

[At-this point may-conveniently be briefly-described theillustrative-extracting means shown in the drawings, The main element isthe rotary extractoror drum 15, one such drum being provided {for eachhopper, and the drums being preferablvofthe skeleton type as'in saidprior patent. :As illustrated, the drum is mounted ,upon a continuouslyrotating shaft -16, which :may be an elongated :shaftserving allsections of the machine, andturning counterclockwise in the presentembodiment. On the drum arecarriedisignature grippers "shown in the formof jaws-each's-wingable abouta-rocksha'ft 18 on the drum and eachcooperating with a relatively fixed gripper seat 19. Each-illustratedgripper represents a set or .pair :of grippers, spaced apartlongitudinally on each drum so as to be able .to gripeach detachedlower'signature edge at two spaced :apart points, insuring-accurateextraction and transferof signatures, 'WhiIe one conventionalarrangement involves a single gripper set upon each drum, for extractionof a single signature in one complete rotation of-the drum, there isshown the other conventional arrangemen-tof aplurality of gripper sets,in this case two opposite gripper sets-involving the extraction of twosuccessive signatures in each rotation of the drum; the-drum thereforebeing rotated at-.ha1f--speed,zthat=is,- one half 1 turn of the drum.per cycle. Each of Figs. '1 and :2 shows a :first gripper set in theact of transferring away ta signature ,iustextracted, for. handling-in aman ner forming no part of .the present invention; and diametrically,opposite thereto .a second gripper set which stands open but the ,iawT5 .of which is ready tobeswung rapidly around to bear upontheseat"ifithereby gripping, on the run, theoutswunglower edge of thefrontmost "signature in the hopper.

or formed into a head or pawl carrier 83. Instead of using a single pawloperating upon very fine ratchet teeth, as in said prior patent, thepreferred arrangement is the use of the multiple pawls, and for thispurpose the carrier 83 is shown as giving support to three lightlyspring-pressed or gravity-operated pawls 84, all bearing constantly uponthe ratchet periphery. The head or carrier 83 is therefore provided withthree pawl pivots or pins 85; and these and their pawls aredifferentially spaced, in the .known manner of differential pawls, sothat the pawl pitch may be considered as subdivided into three equalfractions, with the three pawls in correspondingly spaced relations. Bythis arrangement is provided the equivalent of much finer ratchet teethworked by a single pawl,

while retaining teeth of ample size and strength. As the pawl carrier isoscillated, the amount of advancing drive communicated to the ratchetand the hopper web may be to the extent of onethird of the pitch of asingle tooth, or of selective multiples thereof. The pawl lever 8! isformed also with a second or upper arm 87, utilized to cooperate in thecontrol of the feeding action of the pawl and ratchet system. A pullspring 88 is shown urging frontwardly the upper end of the pawl leverarm 81, with a very light pull, tending to bring a pawl to a ratchettooth and hold it there until a feed stroke of the lever 85 takes place;said spring 88 serving also to hold a trip finger Hll on the lever incontact with a feeler member I06 during an idle stroke as will bedescribed.

As a means to oscillate the pawl lever BI is shown a driven actuator orrotary cam 98 mounted upon a longitudinal drive shaft 9!. which mayextend the full length of the machine. Said shaft may be geared from themain or drum shaft 15, with 2 to 1 ratio, for example by a sprocketchain 89. The cam should be cyclic, making one action or revolution percycle, for example, having an outer dwell and an inner dwell separatedby two cam slants and adapted to put the pawl lever through itsclockwise or feed movement in each cycle. The cam or timing means ispreferably an open cam with its periphery acting directly upon afollower or roll 92 carried on a rocking cam arm 93, which constitutespart of a cam lever the second arm 9 of which may extend at an angle tothe first.

The cam lever 93, 94 is mounted to rock about a longitudinal axle 95,and in order to hold the follower 92 always in contact upon the camperiphery there is suitably provided resilient means such as a stoutcoil spring 96 pulling for example upon the first cam rockarm 93. Fromthe second arm 94 extends a connection to the pawl lever, beingillustrated as a link 91, arranged for example at about a right angle tothe arm 94, so that the lever oscillations produced by the pawlactuatingcam 99 are applied to cause a swinging of the carrier 83 and the pawl orpawls carried thereby. Instead Of rigid connections between the cam andthe pawl carrier, depriving this system of variable control of stackfeeding, a lost motion device is introduced at a suitable point. Thisfor example may consist of a pin and slot device, the slot 98 beingshown provided at the front extremity of the link 91, and the pin 99pro- .iecting from the lower tip of the pawl carrier into said slot.Said device is such, acting like a hook, that the cam can onl swingclockwise the lever, for its feed stroke as will be hereinafter morefully explained, the link slot end I00 being the hook.

The web-advancing wheel 55, while shown as a ratchet with teeth, may beof the toothless kind if a so-called silent pawl is used, gripping thewheel periphery on each feed stroke. Said feed wheel and the train Ofconnections leading to it, namely, the variable-throw reciprocatingcarrier or pawl lever 8| and the pawl means thereon, and the cam-drivenrocklever 93, 94, with link 9! and pin-and-slot lost-motion device orloose connections 98, 99 extending to the carrier lever from therocklever, may be considered as constituting a variable speedintermittent drive for the feed web; the variation of the carrier throwbeing the means of regulating the rate of wheel rotation and of web andstack travel. In combination with these combined elements, in theirbroad and Specific aspects, the present invention provides a novelcontrol means to cause the stack feed tokeep pace substantially with therate of extraction of signatures, and with the resulting depletion atthe stack front, being greater with thicker signatures and vice versa.Said control means of this invention takes its action from the stackitself, and comprises a shiftable feeler member or presser I 06 bearingon a free or exposed part of the stack front, preferably resiliently,and taking therefore a variable position responsive to the degree oflooseness or tightness of the stacked signatures near the front. Thisfeeler has connections, extending operatively at certain points of timeto the regulating means, specifically shown as loose or lost motionconnections to the pawl lever or carrier, arranged and operating toincrease the stack travel speed with greater looseness of signatures andvice versa; so that excess looseness is promptly corrected by the fasterfeed, while excess fullness or tightness causes the feed to reduce to aminimum, or even to zero for suspension, until mean conditions are againestablished. Besides the general advantage of controlling the mean rateof stack feed to accord with the de pletion produced by extraction ofsignatures, the described arrangement has the advantage that the exposedor free areas of the stack front are continuously maintained at auniform and optimum frontward position, thereby cooperating efiicientlyand reliably with the suction detacher means including the sucker cups5| which in each cycle are moved rearwardly to a definite signatureengaging position.

More specifically, the invention may be said to consist in a signaturehopper mechanismof the kind handling edgewise stacked signatures, havingat its bottom the aforesaid traveling feed web for feeding frontwardlythe stack, with lateral means forguiding the advancing stack, and thefront abutment against which the stack may bear in position for each ofthe front signatures in cyclical succession and by automatic means to bedetached at its edge, gripped and extracted: and characterized by meansfor advancing the feed web at a rate corresponding substantially withstack depletion, comprising the following elements. A feed wheel 55having connections operative to advance the feed web, a reciprocablecarrier 8!, 82 with pawl means :84 to engage and intermittently advancethe feed wheel and web to a variable extent determined by the throw ofthe carrier, and a driven actuator, the cam 90, having connections tosaid carrier to impart successive feed strokes to bring the carrier to aconstant final position in each action but with lost greases motion-18599' irisaid: actuator connections per-- mitting variable return strokesand consequent variable feed strokes" of the=carrierr With theseelements cooperates the control means for-'de' termi'ning in each" cyclethe variable extent of feed wheelandiwebadvance derivedfrom saidactuatorcam through" said lost-motion connections' and carrier, comprising ashiftable-feeler I06 resiliently yieldable irontwardly' and spring--pressed rearwardl'y in each cycle to bear upon'and compress a-freeportion Of the stack front'thereby responsivelyto-take a variablerear-position determined by thecondition of looseness or'tightness ofthestack front. The pawl carrier and: the feeler are so interconnectedat least during.

the idle part of the cycle that they'shift in unison, and the feeler-byitsvariable rear position determined by the stack' condition, and" itscorresponding consequent relative frontward yield" during-eachidl'eperiodj effectsa variable abridgementof thefull operative throw. ofthe pawlcarrier, as permitted bythelost'motion insaid'actuatorconnections. By such mechanism, when the stack istight'full the actuator operations are substantially takenup; withinsaid" lost-motion,

and-thepawl carrierthrow andstack feed rate are-minimum or zero; whereaswith increasingv stack looseness the feeler and'thruster. andconsequentlythe connected carrier take progressively rearwardlydisplaced positions. to. being about progressively increasing throws ofcarrier and.

upon the carrier; a mere lost-motion connection.

with contacting cooperation is preferred; in order to permit the feeler'to be conveniently mounted.

on, the detacher and shifted away frontwardly. with l'GIfQYOnB period ofeach cycle, and, also to. permit the tripping of the. connection into.in-.

activity: when the stack is empty, thus obviating. wear upon the pawl,ratchet and otherpartsn as will-be more particularly described; Thusthe.

pawl lever ispreferably subjected'to two. one-way;

actions by looseor lost motion connections operating like mere ,contactsorhooks; (1) during.

the feed period" the feedlcam operating through. the link or hookconnection. 9T, 98Lto. swing the. lever. clockwise, pullin l'eftwarditslower. end to cause feed}, While (2) during. thev non-feed period thefeeler-pusher operates.through..con-

tact connection to swing the lever. counterclocke wise; pushing itsupper end, leftward, to .a variable. extent which determines the.subsequent extentofi feed in: the next period. Neither operating trainiscontinuously operative but they act alternate1y,

the ieeler-controlled;train.v causing the. pawl car.-

rier idle stroke atone stage,.to-a.variable degree.

according to the needs, thefeed-cam train causing the carrierfeedstroketo the.extent.determined by the precedingidlestroke.

The mechanism for carrying out thefeedlcontrol operations andresults.ofjthisinvention.com-- prises combinations of elements suchasshown.

in Figs, 1,5 and 6 or as in Figs. 2, '7 and or.

equivalents thereof, the .function thereof. being to change the extentor; angle of swing of the pawl lever 81" ineach direction to' a variablemovement determined" by the condition of" the stack at its front end;whether it istight full orsubstantially I loose I and compressible;thereby *to vary accordingly the throw oi the pawl carrier and thus-'-accelerateon deceleratethe mean or average rate-of frontward stack feedin accord ancewith'theneeds;

Refer-ring toboth' forms; one of the preferred".v elements ofthe controlmechanism, and a'con tacting part of the interconnections betweenfeelerand carrier, consists of a contact piece preferably in the iorm ofaa trip member or finger till located upon, and-preferably pivoted at 02atop, the pawl lever 81 orthe upstanding armdlithereoi', being thusanextension of the carrier. This contact member" extends frontwardly from:said pivo't hcneaththeirontmost: group of stackedsignatures; andreaches, at itsextremity, approxi-- mately to" the frontmost signature,which is about to be detached and extracted, as'seen in Figs; 1, 2; 5and Thetrip finger or contact piece wt therefore isswi'ngable upwardlyand" downwardly on its pivot I82; and it is shown as: beingspring-positioned by meansof a'rearwardly extending tail I03 that" ispulled downwardly by a light spring liMtendingslightly-to lift the tripfinger from itsnormal or operative position showniirFigs; Band? to anupwardly swung idle position as-shown in: Figs. 6 and 8, and in-thedetached front view Fig; 6A.

This upswinging tripping. movement of finger" Itl is an abnormal-one,occurring only-when the staclc'is empty-and serving merely to shift somewhat the tri'pfi'nger away from-the operative position inwhichit'coactswiththe feed control ele ments Hid, lfil to be described; thespring HM having only sufhcicnt'tension and play to effect the"described slight upward tripping displace-- mentsof the'contact finger.Whenthe hopper is resupplied' with signatures they act to depress" againthe finger illl to normal operative-position;

This trippingaction of the finger Iii! is advantageous inrendering thecontrol and feedaction inoperative for any given hopper or hoppers whichare not" being used, thus savingneedless wear. In gathering thinpamphlets only aiew hoppers may-be inuse, and the finger trippingactiondn the'nthers renders them idle;

Cooperating. with" the tripping contact finger' illl', which is carriedbodily 'frontward' and rearward with the oscillation of the .upper' arm81 of the? pawl. carrier: lever, is whatis designateda feeler:membenonpresser' ills arranged to pressagainstthe stack, and whichfeeler takesdis-- tinctly" different mechanical forms inthe twoembodimentsofi the invention, but in each case detecting the. degree oflooseness of the front group of: signatures.andthereby'undergoing andtransmittin toithe contactpiece or-finger IM and the pawl lever arm.8'3. 3, variable idle rearwardishift.

The: fcelenarrangement shown Figs. 1, 5

andxdwill be. first described. The feeler member I'M-is providediwith:anextension piece or foot:

Ill] which during the non-feeding period is;

75- ture; its ofiset foot'or horizontal extension- 101 aseaeae when infeeling position stands directly in front of and is adapted to thrustupon the contact finger or piece I I. Thereby the stack-d terminedposition taken by the feeler extension or thrust piece I01 in each cycledetermines the extent to which the contact finger is thrust rearwardlyand the pawl lever is swung counterclockwise for its idle stroke. Thisvariable and usually abridged motion or swing, being the idle or returnstroke of the pawl lever and carrier, the next subsequent clockwise orfeed stroke is of course varied or abridged correspondingly, as theparts pass from the Fig. 4 to the Fig. 3 position during which strokethe action of the cam 90 causes the sovaried active feed stroke of thecarrier and pawls, acting through the lost-motion pin-and-slot device98-99, which permits the described variation of actual throw and feed,the cam action always bringing the carrier to the constant limit or zeroposition of Fig. 3.

By the principles of the invention the feeler and its offset foot orthrust member I01 are thus adapted in each cycle to shift rearwardly todifferent operative positions in accordance with the tightness orlooseness of the signatures at the front end of the stack, the greaterthe looseness and need of accelerated feed the greater the rear shift.For these purposes the feeler I06 is arranged and fitted to thrustrearwardly, with sufficient pressure to compact the frontmost signatureswhen they are in slack condition, taking up the slack and to the degreethereof shifting rearwardly. The feeler I06 may take differentmechanical forms, being shown in Figs. 1, 5 and 6 as a depending plateor strip, for example piv- ...1

oted at I08 at its upper end and extending downwardly therefrom forcontact with the front signature, at least during the non-feed period,and with its low extremity extended or offset as the aforesaid thrustextension or contact foot I01, being the part which is shifted by thefeeler and directly coacts, by thrust-connection, with the contactfinger IOI atop the pawl lever. A convenient way is illustrated formounting shiftably the plate or feeler I06, its pivot I08 being at thetop end of a small bracket I09 shown as extending upwardly from thesuction bar 64 or other part of the swinging suction detacher 60. Withthis arrangement the feeler and mountings are swung bodily awayfrontwardly from the stack during the signature detaching operation,clearing the path for signature extraction, and then back into feelingposition. The stack feed stroke caused by the feed cam preferably occursduring the frontward separation of the feeler from the stack; while thefollowing return of the feeler to the stack and its compression thereofprovide the variable idle stroke of the carrier and pawls.

As a means of resiliently pressing the feeler I06 against the frontlower margin of the signature stack when the detacher is in its rearswung position, a spring III is shown, this bein of ample strength toovercome the light pull spring 88, and being under compression betweenthe lower end of the feeler and a convenient front abutment such as adrop lug II 2 depending from the sucker bar 64 well in front of thefeeler. The spring III may be of the helical type and may surround along pin II3 the rear end of which is pivoted to an ear near the lowerend of the feeler and the front end of which is slidable through aperforation in the drop lug II2, a pair of locking stop nuts I I4 beingmounted upon the front end of the slide pin to determine or limit theextreme rearward position of the feeler I06,

as shown in Fig. 6, while permitting frontward yielding, as to theposition shown in Fig. 5, which may be caused by the frontward feedingof the stack or in some cases by the cyclic frontward throw of the upperarm 8'! of the pawl lever acting through the contact piece IiII to pushfrontwardly the feeler during each feed action. The feeler mountinelements I08, I09 and H2 are preferably carried as shown by the suckerbar 66, thereby partaking of the swinging movements of the suctiondetacher 60, by which the suction cups BI in each cycle are swungfrontwardly for detaching the lower margin of each front signature, andthereafter rearwardly again, following the extraction of such signature,into normal contact with the next succeeding signature, for repeat ofaction; the spring III when the detacher is in normal positionmaintaining the feeler bear ing firmly against the stack.

At any time when the extraction of signatures has proceeded to an excessextent, to render loose or slack the frontmost group of signatures,these become compressible so that in each cycle the feeler I06 becomesswung further and further toward the rear, whereby it takes a variablerearward position to determine variably for each cycle the idleposition' of the pawl lever 8|, for example, as shown in Fig. 4. On itsnext or active stroke the lever is swung clockwise through a variableincreased distance, being the same as I that of the idle throw. Thus theextent of feed is controlled, being greater with increase of signaturelooseness and vice versa. The number of ratchet teeth, or toothfractions, over which the pawls can play becomes thus increased, therebyadjusting the rate of stack feed to accelerate it, until the acceleratedadvancement of the stack takes up its looseness and may eventuallyproduce tighter packing of the signatures, which action in turn, uponany excess of feed and packing, varies reversely the action of thefeeler to reduce again its rearward thrust and therefore reduce theeffective rate of stack travel. By these actions the travel of thestack, on the average, is caused to keep pace quite closely with thedepletion caused by the removal of signatures at the front end of thestack; and, due to the subdivision of pawl and ratchet action by thedifferentially spaced pawls, this plan works well with all usualsignatures including the thickest and thinnest, maintaining asubstantially steady feed, with small variations, and a substantiallyuniform condition of signature packing.

In the described action it will be understood that the timing cam actsthe same as a posi-,

the pin-and-slot lost motion being fully taken up. At the end of eachidle or return stroke however the lever is seldom if ever brought to itsextreme counterclockwise position, sufficient stack looseness thereforbeing rare, and the lost motion 98, 99 functioning to allow the feeler I06 and thrust piece IIl'I to bring the connector or trip finger I illand pawl lever to a variable intermediate position, such as is shown inFig. i; in which sense the thrust piece I01 acts as a limiting member orabutment to the lever idle stroke. The stack front in its averagecondition is fairly tight but slightly loose, so that usually there willoccur masteresome degree. ofidleswinglofzthei lever; and its;

corresponding active swing which as soonz'asi of: suificient extent,.will start thezpawlmeans: upon its action of fGGGiIlgthE feedwheel. andweb.

As the feed stroke offthe pawl carrier is preferably; timed to. occurwhen therfeeler is: separated awayfrontwardly from the stack, see thedotted lineposition in Fig.. 1, which affords; ample timingJatitude,the. feed cam action does'not cause. the compression ofthe feeler springH I, although. with-different timing it might do so, in causing eachabridged feedstroke. of the pawl lever. Said springineach cycle: yieldsrelatively frontwardly, asin Fig. 5, dueto the stack abridgingtherearward shift of the feelen. Whenever the stack may become tight.fullthe feeler takes, and'is stopped at, its extreme frontward-feelingposition, permitting, the trip finger to remain in its extreme frontwardposition,.1or example held there by=the light pawl lever spring. 88,whereby accordingly the pawl lever remains in its extreme clockwiseposition, correspondingv with the position shown in Fig. 3 at the closeof the feed. stroke. Consequently, in that condition,. the feed. strokeis without result, the feed bein zero, and the pin-and-slot device Eli-99 merely playingidly under thecam-reciprocated motion of thetransmitting link. 91; until extraction of signatures may again overcomethe tightness, and the repositioning of the feeler and connected partsrestarts the feed action, In all cases it is the rearward return motionof the feeler, variably lim-' ited. as stopped by the stack, thatdetermines the variable idle position of the pawl lever and there.-

by the extent of the next following fee-d stroke.

The pawl carrier. never lacks control;v its idle throw is by thecounterclockwisethrust imposed bythe feeler; its feed throw bytheclockwise pull, imposed by. the cam-through the hooking or pullingend I06 of its link slot 98; andbetween these actions the light. leverspring 88v holds a pawl upon the feed wheelor ratchet tooth, the pawlsprings: also being very light. The friction of the. parts 45, 39; v 54'etc; prevent falseor accidental feed or othermotions-that mightinterfererwith theficontrolled feed of the-stack.

Thestack feeding action of the hopper bottom web-4T being. step-by-stepits mean travel speedis what is to be coordinated withthe depletioncaused: by extractions of signatures. A an example; with signatures inchthick extracted at; the rate of per minutethe-mean-speed of the webshould average 1.5 inches per minute. While a given mean-speedv can notbe attained exactly -'by pawl-and-ratchet it cansbe alternate- 1y overand under attained; and thepresent invention in this way controls theaction through the-stack feeler ,operatingthrough the carrier to causealternating overfeed and under-feed according. to the loosenessortightness at the front ofthe: stack. When the stackbecomes low, and its.looseness increases to the point whereat the feeler and thrusterltd-I01: beginslto cause suificientiidle swing, of. thepawl lever for apawl to P8531 on to a new tooth, the feed commences, increasing withincrease of. looseness, until the;

phase isrever'sed and the stack feed causes tightening until theopposite action occurs. With thickersignatures asingle pawl might give'fine enough feed regulation, but the multiple pawldevice serveswelleven for the thinnest; Thesesignatures. Theratcliets are selected withteethcoarseenough for the thickest signatures, while" the. subdivisionprovided by; the? multiple pawls; takes care of the thinnest signatures.More than threepawls cambecusedfor still finer action. In

practice; the described; controlv of stack; feed.

quite: quickly responsive,v and. the mechanism tends: to assume a fairlysteady. action, with. web travel; approximating the needs. thinsignaturesthe frontiaceof the stack never departsv so. far. from itsoptimum. position. asv to. impair: cooperation with the detaching.suckers. Referring-further to. the modification .of Figs. 2,,

T and: 8 this: is .upon the. same. principles as that of. Figs. 1,5 and6-but. with certain changes of structure andoperation.

The following elements in Fig. 2,,differing from:

Fig: 1, havexalready. been: referred. to, namely,.

the. cushioned. link. A; by: which the opposite suction detacher;carriages; 60 are oscillated,.and. the telescopingxrod 6B and sleeve 6.9comprised: in said link and thecompression spring-.10.con.--

fined; between the' sleeve 69 and the collar ll.

serwng to maintaimthe. link yieldinglyinits most; extendedi condition,and. the sleeve slots 72- ene' gaged by. rod' pins. 73 limiting theelongating. move'ments of: the link. while. providing ampleplayandresilient-yield for the purposes: toibe:

;or-' detector responsive. to the looseness' of the stacked signatures.Thesedetaclierparts:therefore, the body 60 and cup 6:15, serve notmerely for the. detaching: fun'ction,.butialso: to. afford theresponsive function. of the'feeler I06. of' Fig.

Thei .detachemfeeler 60;. 61': bears with pressure uponthesignaturestack for about one twelfth of eachi cycle,.affording'asufficient period of time for" responsive action forthe purposes ofcontrolling the rat'e oftravel' of 'the' feed Web 45 and.

the feedof'the signature stack. By reason of theresilient character ofthe-link; and the abilityof'the' feelerSU-Bl to yield relativelyfrontward while. in. its. feeling position; this detacherfeeler, duringthe non'feed period oteach cycle, is'caused' to assume avariablerearward position in accordance'with the extentof depletion atthe front of'the stack, ina-mariner analogous to the described'actionofthe feelerof Fig. 1..

Referring to'me'chanical' details, each .detaeherfeeler 60-6! swingsabouttthe high pivot'62 comparablewitlrthe pivot H18 of the Fig. 1'feeler I06. Whereas each-Fig; 1- feelerhas-a plate-like body andadownward'extension in theform of an offset foot HIT to cooperatewiththe contact finger I'M, the Fig. 2 feeler mechanism has, cup to pressupon the stack and provides a downward.

extension in the form of a lug IUIA having, as av partof. it: an:adjusting. screw or thrust. piece Ill-1B: extending rearwardly, with itsrear extension in the lineof shifting movement of; the finger or contactpiece- IM- when the feeler is in. feeling position: pressing: uponthestack;-

Whereas' in Fig; l the:.detacher movements are positive and thehorizontal spring I I i presses the feeler toward the stack, in Fig; 2'the upright compression spring- 10= of-the detacher-swinging linkBSAservesthe same function, and likewise per mit's relative-frontwardyield of the .d'etacher' feeler drains thefeeler" imposed variable idleAnd. even r with:

atsaoee E stroke or counterclockwise throw of the carrier lever.

With this second or alternative form of the invention, as with the firstform, the cam 99 should be cyclic, making one turn or cam action perextraction, and the feed stroke caused, by the cam should likewise becoordinated With the feeler swinging movements. The thrust piece 20713and contact piece ill! being shown connected only by their mutuallost-motion contact in the period when the feeler comes to stackpressing position, the frontward detaching swing of the detacher-feelercan impart no clockwise or feeding shift or stroke to the carrier lever;such feed action being left to the drive cam under the control affordedby the varying rearward swing of the feeler with pressure on the stack.The relative timing of the cam and the feeler should preferably be suchthat the cam-produced or clockwise feed stroke of the carrier willcommence about when the feeler reaches its most frontward position ineach cycle, with an amplitude of stroke and extent of feed of stackpredetermined by the preceding rearward shift of the feeler, to itsstack-controlled position, thereby ensuring the required abridgement offeed stroke to accord with the stack condition.

There has thus been described a signature hopper mechanism embodying theprinciples and attaining the objects of the present invention; but sincemany matters of operation, combination, construction, arrangement anddetail may be variously modified without departing from the principlesof the invention it is not intended to limit the same except to theextent set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a signature hopper mechanism of the kind described having atraveling web on which the signatures are stacked edgewise and fedfrontward for front extraction, with rear loading, a variable feed drivefor the feed web, said drive comprising a feed wheel connected to drivethe web and a variable-stroke oscillating carrier carrying pawl meanscooperating with said wheel, means for controlling suchdrive comprisinga shiftable feeler bearing resiliently rearward on the stack front andthereby taking avariable position responsive to the degree of loosenessof the signatures, and connections from the feeler to the carrieroperating to cause increase of carrier return and advance stroke withincreasing looseness of stack due to depletion of signatures, and viceversa, thereby to cause the stack feed to keep pace substantially withthe rate of extraction of signatures; the connections from the feeler tocarrier comprising extensions in the form of separate pieces in mutualthrusting relation, the feeler piece having a strong rearwardly-pressingspring and the carrier piece a weak frontwardly-pressing whereby theformer controls the carrier return stroke.

2. In a signature hopper mechanism of the kind described. having atraveling web on which the signatures are stacked edgewise and fedfrontward for front extraction, with rear loading, a controlled variablefeed drive for the feed web, said drive comprising a feed wheelconnected to drive the web and a variable-stroke oscillating carriercarrying pawl means cooperating with said wheel; means for controllingsuch drive comprising a shiftable feeler bearing resiliently rearward onthe stack front and thereby taking a variable position responsive to thedegree of looseness of the signatures, and connections from the feelerto the carrier operating to cause increase of carrier return and advancestroke with increasing looseness of stack due to depletion ofsignatures, and vice versa, thereby to cause the stack feed to keep pacesubstantially with the rate of extraction of signatures; and incombination with such recited elements the feed drive means comprisinglost-motion connections to the oscillating carrier and adapted to shiftthe carrier for each pawl feed stroke to a constant advanced position;the feeler by its variable position being adapted to operate through itsconnections to the carrier to limit the return of the carrier to avariably curtailed idle return stroke, thereby correspondingly limitingthe extent of the succeeding feed stroke whereby the feed rate of theweb and. stack is controlled; and the connections from the feeler to thecarrier comprising extensions of these in mutual thrusting contact, thefeeler having a strong spring pressing it rearward against the stack andthe carrier having a weak spring pressing the carrier extensionfrontward into contact with the feeler extension, whereby the variablefeeler position determines the extent of carrier idle return stroke, andthereby the extent of variable feed of the stack to keep pace with thedepletion of signatures.

3. A signature hopper mechanism of the kind handling edgewise stackedsignatures, having at its bottom a traveling feed web for supporting andfeeding frontwardly the stack, lateral means for guiding the advancingstack, and a front abutment against which the stack may bear in positionfor each of the front signatures, in cyclical succession and byautomatic means, to be detached at its edge, gripped and extracted; andin combination therewith means for advancing the feed web at a ratecorresponding substantially with stack depletion, the same comprising afeed wheel having connections operative to advance the feed web; ato-and-fro movable carrier having pawl means to engage andintermittently advance the feed wheel and web to a variable extentdetermined by the throw of the stituting an extension of the carrier andmovable to-and-fro with the variable throw thereof,

a 'shiftable feeler resiliently yieldable frontwardly and spring-pressedrearwardly to bear upon and compress a free portion of the stack frontthereby responsively to take a variable rear' position determined by thecondition of looseness or tightness of the stack front, and a secondpiece constituting an extension of the feeler and partaking of theshifting thereof to and from a variable rear position; said first pieceand second piece having such cooperative relation and action that thesecond piece by its variable 1 rear position determined by the stackcondition,

and its corresponding consequent frontward yield during each feedstroke, effects a variable abridgment of the full operative throw of thefirst piece and pawlcarrier, as permitted by the lost motion in saidactuator connections; whereby with tight full stack the actuatoroperations are substantially taken up within said lost-motion, and thepawl carrier throw and stack feed rate are minimum or zero, whereas withincreasing stack looseness the feeler and first piece take progressivelyrearward positions to bring about progressively increasing throws ofcarrier and pawl means, with resulting increasing ratev of stack feed,until excess looseness of stack is taken up, and vice versa; and theinterconnections between the stack feeler and the pawl carriercomprising a contact extension on the feeler and a trip finger pivotedon an upward extension of the carrier in a position to press upwardlyagainst the stack front end and to press frontwardly against the feelerextension, with a spring tending to swing the carrier to cause thefinger to press frontwardly, and a spring tending to press upwardly thefinger; whereby the advancing feed stroke of the carrier may thrustfrontwardly through said finger against the feeier extension, andwhereby when the stack is exhausted the trip finger may rise out of linewith said extension, and render inoperative said interconnections.

A signature gathering machine hopper mechanism of the kind handlingedgewise stacked signatures, having at its bottom a traveling feed webfor supporting and feeding front- Wardly the stack, permitting rearloading without cessation of operation, lateral means for guiding theadvancing stack, and an upright front abutment against which the stackmay bear in position for each of the front signatures in cyclicalsuccession and by automatic means to be detached at its edge, grippedand extracted; and characterized, in combination therewith, by means foradvancing the feed web at a rate corresponding substantially with stackdepletion, the same comprising a feed wheel having connections operativeto advance the feed web, a reciprocable carrier with pawl means toengage and intermittently advance the feed wheel and web to a variableextent determined by the throw of the carrier, and a driven actuatorhaving connections to said carrier to impart successive feed. strokes tobring the carrier positively to a constant final position in each actionbut with lost motion in said actuator connections permitting abridgementof return strokes and consequent variable extent of feed strokes of thecarrier;

and control means for determining in each cycle the variable extent offeed wheel and web advance derived from said actuator through saidlost-motion connections and carrier, comprising a shiftable feelerresiliently yieldable frontwardly and spring-pressed rearwardly to bearupon and compress a free portion of the stack front thereby responsivelyto take a variable rear position determined by the condition oflooseness or tightness of the stack front, said carrier and feeler beingmechanically interconnected, namely, by an up-extension of the carrierand an alined down-extension of the feeler the former having a frontpressing spring weaker than the feeler spring, to shift in unison duringreturn stroke whereby the feeler by its variable rear positiondetermined by the stack condition, and its corresponding consequentfrontward yield during each feed stroke, efiects a variable abridgementof the full operative throw of the pawl carrier, as permitted by thelost motion in said actuator connections; whereby with tight full stackthe actuator operations are substane tially taken up within saidlost-motion and the pawl carrier throw. and stack feed rate are minimumor zero, whereas with increasing stack looseness the feeler andconnected carriertake. progressively further displaced positions to,bring about progressively increasing throws of carrier and pawl means,with increasing rate of stack feed, until excess looseness of stack istaken up, and vice versa.

5. A signature hopper mechanism of the kind handling edgewise stackedsignatures, having at its bottom a traveling feed web for supportingandfeeding frontwardly the stack, lateral means for guiding theadvancing stack, and a front abutment against which the stack may bearin position for each of the front signatures in cyclical succession andby automatic means to be detached at its edge, gripped and extracted;and characterized, in combination therewith, by means for advancing thefeed web at a rate corresponding substantialiy with stack depletion, thesame comprising a feed wheel having connections operative to advance thefeed web, a to-and-fro movable carrier with pawl means to engage andintermittently advance the feed wheel and web to a variable extentdetermined by the throw of the carrier, and a driven actuator havingconnections to said carrier to impart successive feed strokes to bringthe carrier to a constant final position in each action but with lostmotion means comprising a pin and slot device in said actuatorconnections permitting variable return strokes and consequent variablefeed strokes of the carrier; and control means for determining in eachcycle the variable extent of feed wheel and web advance derived fromsaid actuator through said lostmotion connections and carrier,comprising a first piece constituting an extension of the carrier andmovable to-andfro therewith with variable throw, a shiftable feelerresiliently yieldable frontwardly and spring-pressed rearwardly to bearupon and compress a free portion of the stack front there- I byresponsively to take a variable rear position determined by thecondition of looseness or tightness of the stack front, and a secondpiece constituting an extension of the feeler and partaking oftheshifting thereof to and from a variable rear position; said firstpiece and second piece having such cooperative action in unison that thesecond piece by its'variable rear position determined by the stackcondition, and its corresponding consequent frontward yield during eachfeed stroke, eflects a variable abridgement of the full operative throwof the first piece and pawl carrier, as permitted by the lost motion insaid actuator connections; whereby with tight full stack the actuatoroperations are substantially taken up within said lost-motion and thepawl carrier throw and stack feed rate are minimum or zero, whereas withincreasing stack looseness the feeler and first piece take progressivelyrearward positions to bring about progressively increasing throws ofcarrier and pawl means, with increasing rate of stack feed, until excess,looseness of stack is taken up, and vice versa.

6. A signature hopper mechanism of the kind handling edgsW-ise stackedsignatures to be gathered, having at its bottom a traveling feed web forfeeding frontwardly the stack, and adapted to receive at the rear newsupplies of signatures without interrupting operation, and an uprightfront abutment against which the stack may bear in position for each ofthe front signatures to be detached, gripped and extracted; togetherwith means for advancing the feed web at a rate correspondingsubstantially with stack depletion, comprising a feed wheel havingconnections operative to advance the feed web, a reciprocable carrierwith pawl means to engage and intermittently advance the feed wheel andweb to a variable extent determined by the throw of the carrier, and acam having connections to impart successive feed strokes to bring thecarrier to a constant final position in each cycle but with lost motionpermitting variable return strokes and consequent variable feed strokesof the carrier; and control means for determining in each cycle thevariable extent of feed wheel and web advance derived from said camthrough said lost-motion connections and carrier, comprising a carrierextension piece, a shiftable feeler resiliently yieldable frontwardlyand spring-pressed rearwardly to bear upon and compress a portion of thestack front thereby responsively to take a variable rear positiondetermined by the condition of looseness or tightness of the stackfront, and a feeler extension piece, said two pieces having suchcooperative action that the feeler piece by the variable rear positionof the feeler determined by the stack condition efiects a variableabridgement of the full operative throw of the carrier piece andcarrier, as perm ted by the lost motion in said cam connections; andsaid interconnections between feeler and carrier comprising an extensionpiece of the carrier movable regularly therewith, and an extension pieceof the feeler shiftable therewith, these being separate pieces arrangedin mutual alinement for loose-play coaction during operation, withspring means pressing the carrier piece toward the feeler piece withless force than the pressure of the feeler upon the stack, whereby thestack condition determines the extent of idle stroke of the carrier.

'7. A signature hopper mechanism of the kind handling edgewise stackedsignatures to be gathered, having at its bottom a traveling feed web forfeeding frontwardly the stack, and adapted to receive new supplies atthe rear, and an upright front abutment against which the stack may bearin position for each front signature to be gripped and extracted;together with means for advancing the feed web at a rate correspondingwith stack depletion, comprising a feed wheel operative to advance thefeed web, a reciprocable carrier with pawl means to engage andintermittently advance the feed wheel and web to a variable extentdetermined by the throw of the carrier, and an actuator cam havingconnections to impart successive feed strokes to bring the carrier to aconstant final position in each cycle but with lost motion permittingvariable return strokes and consequent variable feed strokes of thecarrier; and control means for determining in each cycle the variableextent of feed wheel advance derived from said cam through saidlost-motion connections and carrier; said control means comprising ashiftable feeler resiliently yieldable frontwardly and spring-pressedrearwardly to bear upon and compress a portion of the stack frontthereby responsively to take a variable rear position determined by thecondition of looseness or tightness of the stack front, an extensionpiece of the carrier movable regularly therewith, and an extension pieceof the feeler shiftable therewith, said two pieces being separate piecesarranged in mutual alinement along their path of action thereby toundergo operative thrusting contact between them during operation;whereby the feeler piece by the variable rear position of the feelerdetermined by the stack condition effects a variable abridgement of thefull operative throw of the carrier piece and carrier, as permitted bythe lost motion in said cam connections; thereby to coordinate the feedof the web and stack with the signature depletion rate.

8. A signature hopper mechanism of the kind stated in claim 7 andwherein is spring means operative to press the carrier piece frontwardlytoward the feeler piece with spring thrust less strong than that of thespring means pressing rearwardly the feeler against the stack, wherebythe stack condition determines the positions of the two pieces and theextent of the idle stroke of the carrier.

9. A signature hopper mechanism of the kind handling edgewise stackedsignatures to be gathered, having at its bottom a traveling feed web forfeeding frontwardly the stack, and an upright front abutment againstwhich the stack may bear in position for each front signature to beextracted; together with means for advancing the feed web at a ratecorresponding substantially with stack depletion, comprising a feedwheel operative to advance the feed web, a toand-fro movable carrierwith pawl means to engage and intermittently advance the feed wheel andweb to a variable extent determined by the throw of the carrier, and anactuator or cam having connections to impart successive feed strokes tobring the carrier to a constant final position in each cycle but withlost motion permitting variable return strokes and consequent variablefeed strokes of the carrier; and control means for determining in eachcycle the variable extent of feed wheel advance derived from saidactuator cam through said lost-motion connections and carrier,comprising a shiftable feeler resiliently yieldable frontwardly andspring-pressed rearwardly to bear upon and compress a portion of thestack front thereby responsively to take a variable rear positiondetermined by the condition of looseness or tightness of the stackfront; an extension piece movable with the carrier, an extension pieceshiftable with the feeler, said two pieces being separate piecesarranged in alinement along their paths of action thereby to haveabutting contact during each cycle; whereby the feeler piece by thevariable rear position of the feeler determined by the stack conditioneffects a variable abridgement of the full operative throw of thecarrier piece and carrier, as permitted by the lost motion in said camconnections; and one of said pieces being a trip finger, mounted on oneof said members, the carrier or feeler, to shift or tilt out ofalinement with the other piece on the other member to render inoperativethe pawl feed of the wheel and web, and a means or spring for soshifting said trip finger when the stack is exhausted.

10. A mechanism as in claim 9 and wherein the carrier extension piece ortrip finger pivoted to tilt upwardly from operative position thereby totrip the interconnections between feeler and carrier, is provided with alight spring tending to trip and tilt upwardly and trip the finger; thetrip finger being so arranged beneath the front part of the signaturestack that the stacked signatures present at the hopper front endnormally hold down the trip finger in po- 21 sition to allow cooperationwith the feeler extension piece, whereas when the stack is exhausted thefinger becomes released to rise into inoperative position, and soprevent web feeding actions.

11. A signature gathering machine hopper mechanism for edgewise stackedsignatures comprising a frontwardly advancing web supporting the stackand adapted to be ioaded at will at the rear, and means to advance theweb and stack at an average rate corresponding with stack depletion,comprising a web feed wheel, and an oscillating carrier having feed andreturn strokes, with pawl means thereon to ad- Vance the wheel and web,said wheel and carrier being mounted directly beneath the front end ofthe stack of edgewise standing signatures, and the carrier having aboveits pivot an upwardly extending arm which swings frontwardly when thepawl means on the carrier swings backwardly for each feed stroke,cyclical means to advance the carrier and pawl means, to a constant backposition in each web feeding stroke with lost motion therein to permitvariation of stroke; and control means to vary the carrier stroke inaccordance with the degree of stack looseness, comprising a stack feelerpressed resiliently against the stack front during each carrier returnstroke, and connections from the feeler to the upstanding arm of thecarrier adapted, by reason of the variable rear position of the feeler,to cause variable abridgement of carrier return stroke and therefore aslower average stack feed with increasing looseness of stack and viceversa.

12. A signature hopper mechanism having a frontwardly traveling feed webfor edgewise stacked signatures, and means for advancing the feed web ata rate in pace with stack depletion, comprising a feed wheel, anoscillating carrier with pawl means to advance intermittently the feedwheel and web to a variable extent determined by the throw of thecarrier, and an actuator with connections to impart successive feedstrokes to bring the carrier to a constant advanced position in eachcycle but with lost motion permitting variable return strokes andconsequent variable feed strokes of the carrier; and control means fordetermining in each cycle the variable extent of feed wheel advancederived from said actuator through said lost-motion connections andcarrier, comprising a carrier extension piece oscillating with thecarrier, a shiftable feeler spring-pressed rearwardly to bear upon andcompress a portion of the stack front thereby responsively to take avariable rear position determined by the condition of looseness ortightness of the stack front, said feeler having an extension piece,said two pieces being separate but in mutual alinement whereby to havecooperative action, the feeler piece by its variable rear positiondetermined by the stack condition effecting a variable abridgement ofthe full operative throw of the carrier piece and carrier, as permittedby the aforesaid lost motion, the carrier extension having spring meanspressing it frontward less strongly than the feeler pressure.

13. Mechanism as in claim 12 and wherein the carrier extension piece isa trip finger mounted to tilt upwardly from operative position below thestack and thereby trip the connections between feeler and carrier, witha light spring tending to trip the finger; whereby when the hopper isempty of signatures the carrier extension rises out of line with thefeeler extension.

PAUL E. ICLEINEBERG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 21,489 Kleineberg et al. June25, 1940 Re.2l,707 Davidson Feb. 4, 1941 2,336,839 Blackstone Dec. 14,1943 2,369,914 La Bombard Feb. 20, 1945

